Nightmares
by shiiki
Summary: Annabeth might be able to convince the boys that her post-Tartarus nightmares are nothing, but Hazel and Piper know better. A girl-bonding moment on the Argo II set between HoH and BoO.


**A/N:** So on the forums, I've noted that I'm not the only one who loves Hazel and thinks she needs more love! So I decided to get this one typed up next: a fic from last year that I wrote for my CoL artist/beta, **preciouschildrenofolympus** , who also loves Annabeth and Hazel.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Nightmares

The scream shattered the silence of the night.

Hazel sat bolt upright, cracking her head on the low ceiling above her bunk.

In the ship's corridor, heads were popping out of their respective cabins, their faces ranging from drowsiness (Frank, she could tell, was struggling to shake off sleep) to alertness (Leo was already wide-eyed and ready for a fight). Percy and Jason, who'd been on guard duty above deck, came stampeding down.

'What is it?' Piper asked.

Percy didn't answer her. He made a beeline for Annabeth's room.

It had been _her_ scream, Hazel realised. They gathered around the door as Percy burst in, shouting Annabeth's name.

A moment later, they both emerged, Percy holding a mortified-looking Annabeth like he was afraid to let her go.

'I'm okay,' she said. 'I was dreaming—well, nightmares, you know. Sorry I woke everyone.'

'What were you dreaming about?' Piper asked. 'Anything we should know?'

Annabeth shook her head. She said, quietly, 'Tartarus.'

Percy's arms around her tightened. Annabeth extricated herself from him gently. 'I'm fine, seriously. You should all go back to sleep.'

'I wasn't sleeping,' Percy said. 'I could keep you company—'

'Go back to your watch, then.' Annabeth looked around crossly. She took on a stern expression of authority, the face of the _de facto_ leader she'd been when Hazel first joined the crew. 'Gods, Percy, we're demigods. If we can't handle simple nightmares, how are we going to deal with Gaia and the giants—or anything that might be attacking the ship in the next five minutes, seeing as no one's keeping watch?' She looked pointedly at Jason.

Jason muttered a quick apology and hurried back up to the top deck. Frank and Leo blushed and melted back into their compartments. Hazel had a feeling they wouldn't dare show their faces until breakfast time.

Percy hung back, reluctant to leave Annabeth.

'Percy, I'm _fine_ ,' Annabeth repeated firmly. 'It was just a nightmare. You of all people should understand. It's going to happen. We just have to—let it pass, I guess.' She hesitated, then kissed his cheek. 'I'll sleep better knowing that you're on guard.'

Percy cupped her chin and kissed her. 'I don't like leaving you alone, Wise Girl.'

' _NO HANKY PANKY IN THE CABINS!_ ' Buford the table, complete with holographic Hedge, joined the party, making everyone jump. For the second time that night, Hazel bumped her head, this time against the top of her doorframe. Son of a Gorgon, she was going to get a real lump there.

'You heard him,' Annabeth said weakly. 'Go on.'

Percy kissed her again and went back to join Jason.

Annabeth closed her eyes. Her arms were trembling. Had they been all along, or had she held it in check to brush everyone off?

Without a word to Piper and Hazel, she disappeared back into her room. She left the door slightly ajar.

'She's not okay,' Piper said. 'Come on.'

She pushed open Annabeth's door.

'Piper, she said—'

'I know what she said. But that's not what she needs.'

Hesitantly, Hazel followed Piper into Annabeth's room.

The older girl was lying on her back in her bunk, her eyes open and staring at the ceiling. She didn't turn at Piper and Hazel's entrance.

Piper crawled over to Annabeth to lie next to her. Still uncertain about all this, Hazel took the other side. The three of them lay there, their shoulders touching, until Hazel thought Annabeth must have gone back to sleep at last.

Then Annabeth spoke, in a barely audible whisper, 'I couldn't tell Percy.'

 _Couldn't tell Percy what?_ Hazel wanted to ask, but she thought it better to wait.

'The scariest thing about Tartarus—worse than the monsters and the evil gods and the whole damn place trying to kill us—the scariest thing I saw was _him_.'

She told them how Percy had stood at the edge of an endless chasm and turned a flood of poison back on its creator.

'He was protecting you both,' Piper said. 'Akhlys would have killed you.'

Her voice was uncertain, and Hazel knew it was because Piper hadn't really seen the full height of Percy's powers yet. She couldn't readily imagine how terrifying the image could be. Hazel suspected she herself probably hadn't seen all Percy could do, either, but she _had_ been to Alaska with him and watched him summon hurricanes and destroy a glacier.

Hazel remembered how Frank had been afraid of how she might see him after he'd gotten the blessing of Mars, or slain the _katoblepones_ in Venice. Listening to Annabeth now, Hazel could understand those fears better. Even when done in defence of the people you loved, unleashing death and carnage changed a person. There was a fine line to walk between righteous protection and sadistic revenge.

No wonder Annabeth was so torn up about this.

And no wonder she couldn't tell Percy. Hazel imagined the look on Frank's face if she told him his insane Mars-given fighting skills terrified her. He'd be crushed.

'It wasn't what he _did_. It was …' The sheets trembled with Annabeth's shudder. 'Tartarus brought out the worst in us. We'd just gotten past these curse spirits, too.' She described the _arai_ —demons that were more fearsome than Hazel could imagine, that cursed you with the very misdeeds you'd lain upon others previously.

One curse in particular made Hazel shiver. Annabeth described how she had been plunged into isolation, completely abandoned.

'I don't know how to explain it,' she said. 'I knew he was there, but it was like he wasn't, like I was alone. I don't know how to tell you what that feels like.'

'Like no one in the world can see you. Like you're surrounded by people but you don't exist to them,' Hazel said softly.

'You _do_ know,' whispered Annabeth.

'That's what it was like in the Fields of Asphodel.'

In the darkness, their breaths seemed to ebb and flow in harmony. Hazel felt the distance between her and Annabeth shrink, like a line pulled taut. She hadn't had much opportunity to get to know the older girl before this. Hazel had spent a lot of time with Piper on their quest to reach the House of Hades, but Annabeth had only been around for a week before she'd descended into Rome after the Athena Parthenos. Percy's girlfriend had seemed incredibly steady, impossibly wise, and insanely brave. Hazel had been in awe of her.

Hazel was still in awe of her. But she also grasped now how _real_ Annabeth was—broken and terrified and struggling, just like they all were. She was touched that Annabeth trusted her enough to let her see this. It was like gaining another sister.

'The worst thing was,' Annabeth said, 'it wasn't a _new_ feeling. I—it was awful because I had a friend who … well, I thought Luke cared about me, but he left me behind, and it felt like that all over again, and I remembered all the stuff Luke did because he got so angry at the gods.

'And then when I saw Percy looking that mad … I love him, but I'm also—I'm also scared for him. That he could do what Luke did.'

'You're scared for him,' Piper said.

'Yes.' Annabeth sounded confused.

It took Hazel a second to understand what Piper meant. 'You said you're scared _for_ Percy. Scared for him, not—'

'Not _of_ him,' Piper finished.

'I—' Annabeth let her breath out in a long, slow hiss. 'You're right.' Her laugh came a little breathlessly, a mixture of tears and relief. 'He's still Percy. He—'

'He loves you,' Hazel and Piper said simultaneously.

'You should have heard him talk about you when we were in Alaska,' Hazel said. 'I wondered sometimes if you were actually a goddess instead of a demigod like us.'

'It's so annoying,' Piper added teasingly.

Hazel didn't have to see Annabeth's face to know she was smiling. 'That's my Seaweed Brain,' she said fondly. 'I just wish I didn't keep having nightmares about us in Tartarus.'

'I think I can help with that,' Hazel said. 'The Mist isn't just good for disguising things. It can send dreams, too. Good ones.'

'Have you done it before?' Piper asked.

'No. But it's got to be easier than tricking a sorceress. Close your eyes.'

Hazel concentrated on sending them all vision of happiness. Simple things, like joking around at the breakfast table while the boys traded bad puns and fist bumped. Hopeful things, like sitting on a tropical beach later in the summer while Piper taught them how to surf as she'd promised she would one day. She didn't know for sure if this would work, but she was confident that she could weave enough protection to keep the darkness at bay for tonight at least.

None of them had any nightmares for the rest of the night.

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 **A/N:** I know in _BoO_ Piper mentions Annabeth telling her about Percy and Akhlys. It doesn't say that Annabeth shared it with Hazel, but it doesn't say that she _didn't_. I feel like it's definitely possible, though. It's _Hazel_ —the girl who got Leo to spill his guts about Calypso and was a comfort to Percy when he first showed up at Camp Jupiter. Her empathy is way more developed in the series than Piper's!


End file.
